Value-Based Marketing Research

As B2B companies adopt value-based approaches to sales and marketing, they struggle with a range of implementation issues:

How do we integrate value-based selling into our sales process?

How do we staff the value-based selling initiative?

What types of training are most effective?

What types of collateral are most effective?

To
help clients address such issues Kotler Marketing regularly conducts
large-scale studies of best-practices among B2B vendors. Examples of
our research in this area include:

Supplier Sales Best PracticesSuppliers
to the automotive and heavy duty industries negotiate in a
competitive, often contentious environment. Kotler's research with
100's of suppliers has identified sales best practices associated with
the ability to defend pricing and win price premiums in these
industries. (Learn more about this industry practice area)

Selling the Value of Enterprise Software
This ground-breaking study explored how information-technology
customers and vendors view and use ROI. It was based on surveys with
more than 500 enterprise decision-makers, and more than 200 IT
vendors. Study findings provide both customer and vendor perspectives
on the characteristics of effective value-based tools, collateral, and
sales practices.
(Learn more about this industry practice area)

"The
report was a tremendous aide. ... The industry cuts of the information
and benchmark on other vendor practices were very helpful. "
- Randy Villeneuve,
Senior Director, Oracle Corporation

“It's
never been more important to communicate ROI. But too often vendors
forget to listen as well. This report provides a healthy antidote -- a
chance to hear the voice of the customer on this important topic."
- Traver Gruen-Kennedy,
VP & Chief Evangelist, Citrix Systems

Defending Technology Maintenance, Service and Support Prices
Enterprise technology customers have become increasingly aggressive in negotiating down support and maintenance
prices. To help technology vendors meet this challenge, the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA)
partnered with Kotler on this research with over 100 participating vendors. The primary finding is that while discounting
cannot be eliminated it can be controlled. Levers exist to bring this issue under management’s control. This report
identifies these levers and details what practices companies should implement to better protect the important margin
and EPS contribution of their maintenance, service and support business. A related Defending Price™ sales training
program is now available.